>>29881562
AOE stun

>>29881562
>More damage.
It's what's important right now and we'll never regret it.

>>29881607
You think with only one Piece of Arcadia embedded any stuns would only affect the target. You'd need more for AOE.

>>29881562
>Unlimited ammo
JUST KEEP FIRING

Knockback/stun

>>29881607
>>29881890
The Piece of Arcadia sinks into your bow, and your hands tingle as the weapon starts to rearrange itself. The bow was an elegant and simple curve of white wood, and now it's changing. The wood snaps and pops as it splits apart, the ends lengthening. It's as if something inside the bow is trying to hatch. In the cracks forming the length of the weapon, you can see green jade scales, sliding and shifting, as if a snake was wearing wooden armour. It's hypnotising.

You have acquired the White Bow of Fangs. It feels no heavier in your hand, no harder to draw, but it feels alive, too. Eager. No one will mistake you for meat with this on your back.

>Take it over to the window, quietly, and try it out.
>Continue waiting at the top of the stairs for whoever's down there to stick their head out again.
>Use ability.
>Write in.
>Quit Arcadia.

Rolled 53

>>29882027
Use Foresight, then shoot the leader.

>>29882027
Taunt whoever's down there to poke their head up. With our friends in danger we don't really have time to take it slow.

>>29882027
>Take it over to the window, quietly, and try it out.
>>29882050
Foresight is on cooldown because spudlords last thread decided to blow it unnecessarily on an easy DC.

>>29882027
>Take it over to the window, quietly, and try it out.
No reason to waste it.

>>29882027
>Take it over to the window, quietly, and try it out.
Let's see what this can do.

>>29882074
>>29882119
>>29882131

As quietly as you can, you move backwards, watching the stairwell. Whoever is down there is happy to keep you bottled up for now and not too keen to charge upstairs into a strategically weak position.

You carefully peer out the window, keeping your head back as far as possible to scout for a target. Trish is hauling Shrike back up onto a tomb - he must have missed his footing and put a leg down into the Wandering Hands.

>Aim for the guy giving the orders again. DC 65
>Aim for one of the melee fighters harrying Trish and Shrike. DC 65
>Aim for one of the archers. DC 65
>Use Ability.
>Write in.
>Quit Arcadia.

Rolled 68

>Aim for the guy giving the orders again. DC 65

Rolled 6

>>29882203
>Aim for the guy giving the orders again.
He dies, we win probably.

Rolled 85

>>29882203
Shoot the leader.

Rolled 23

>>29882203
>Aim for the guy giving the orders again. DC 65

Rolled 77

>>29882203
Shoot the leader.

>>29882238
>>29882227
>>29882240

You notch an arrow, and as soon as you do so its wooden shaft grows a latticework of green lines. You release the arrow, and it flies with a strange, elated hiss.

"Watch the-" he bites off his sentence as your arrow finds his ribs. It's not pain that makes him shudder wordlessly; he looks paralyzed with fear.

Trish lets go of Shrike's arm, elbows aside the swordsman on the other end of her tomb, sending him scrambling to avoid the Wandering Hands, and leaps from one grave to the next, her sword above her head.

Unable to dodge, unable to move, the leader of the meat can only stare as Trish brings the heavy sword down on his head. She cuts him in half. You can hear his skull splinter from here, and blood gushes as he collapses in a ruined pile, the weight of the blade driving him to his knees.

You have slain meat.

There's a brief silence, horrified on one side and elated on the other, and then as one the meat turn on Trish and Shrike.

Lily crouches down against her square of earth to try and fly to the rescue.

>Shoot someone else DC 65.
>Use PRAY to try and yank Shrike out of the way.
>Use ASCEND and try and grab Trish.
>Write in.
>Quit Arcadia.

Rolled 16

>>29882529
>Shoot someone else
Gotta kill 'em all!

Rolled 60

>>29882529
>Shoot someone else DC 65.
Just quickly check that there's nobody creeping up on us too.

Rolled 10

>>29882529
"Run away or you all die!"

Shoot another for emphasis.

Rolled 74

>>29882529
>Write in
Use ASCEND to gain air superiority to attack targets with the bow.

Rolled 77

>>29882529
Shoot whichever is closest to/looks like they're going after our allies

>>29882621
We already have height on them and a great angle. Using ascend will just expose us to archers.

>>29882580
>>29882572
>>29882568
You glance over your shoulder, rising on tiptoes briefly to get a look down the stairwell. You can hear footsteps, but they're retreating. Someone going to the window to see what was going on, probably. You think there are two of them down there.

No one's sneaking up on you at least.

You notch another arrow and let it fly, and it lands in the back of the swordsman menacing Shrike. Again, your target shudders, his face a mask of horror, and Shrike darts in with his sword and cuts his throat open.

You have slain meat.

Lily's diving on the archers and she coughs up PREACH.

She's too late to prevent the arrows flying at Trish. Trish hurls herself sideways, off the edge of the tomb and lands among the Wandering Hands, an arrow thudding into her arm.

Lily lays into the archers with her staff and one of them falls.

"Trish!" Shrike bounds towards his fallen friend.

You can hear footsteps on the stairs; the tides of battle look like they might turn, and the retaliation is on its way. There are four archers left and one melee fighter on the ground.

>Turn and start shooting whoever's coming up the stairs DC 65
>Shoot one of the archers DC 65
>Shoot the last melee fighter DC 65
>Use ability.
>Write in.
>Quit Arcadia.

Rolled 75

>Turn and start shooting whoever's coming up the stairs DC 65

Rolled 77

>>29882824
>Turn and start shooting whoever's coming up the stairs DC 65
Also, Maybe move to begin clearing the floor below us.

Rolled 61

>>29882824

Rolled 91

>>29882824
>Shoot one of the archers
Need to get rid of them.

Rolled 39

Shoot the last melee fighter, then ready the glaive.

>>29882867
>Turn and start shooting whoever's coming up the stairs DC 65

>>29882867
oh god you barely saved us

>>29882846
>>29882852
>>29882867
>>29882871

You turn and fire, as two meat, a man and a woman, charge up the stairs. She's got a pike while he still has his bow drawn. You hit the woman in the chest and you get the unnerving experience of inducing pure terror close up and first hand. Her companion fires over her shoulder and pain blooms in your side as his arrow finds your ribs, but their ascent is halted.

"Trish! Ak!" Shrike sounds like he's been hit but you've got your hands full.

"Help-" that sounded like Trish, still among the Wandering hands. You hear Lily attack something.

>Fire another arrow at the woman. DC 65
>Aim behind her at her friend DC 55 (cover).
>Switch to the glaive and attack DC 70
>Use ability.
>Write in.
>Quit Arcadia.

Rolled 96

>>29883065
>Aim behind her at her friend DC 55 (cover).

Rolled 74

>>29883065
Ascend, abandon position, join the ground war.

Rolled 4

>>29883065
>Switch to the glaive and attack DC 70

Rolled 99

>>29883065
>Switch to the glaive and attack DC 70
While we shout out a PREACH preferably. Anything that takes more than one out of the fight.

Rolled 88

>>29883065
>Aim behind her at her friend DC 55 (cover).

>>29883131
>>29883140
>>29883141
hahah wha-
>>29883153
oh god stop

>>29883182
I'm so sorry.

>>29883131
>>29883140
>>29883141
(crit success + crit fail = success)

You hear, of all things, hoofbeats.

"Accept all yields!" a male voice calls.

"Like hell!" Lily hollers back.

You have no idea what's going on, but it sounds generally for the best.

>>29883141
>>29883153 (tied vote; 1d2)

You switch to your glaive and charge before she recovers from your arrow, ducking under the waivering end of her pike and driving your blade into her stomach. She can't even move.

You have slain meat.

Her companion looks at you with horror and drops his bow, taking his shield off his back and backing down the stairs.

"There's more in the tower," Lily says.

Mason, you recognise him now, is still calling for yields, although it's not clear if he's getting any.

"Take someone alive!" An unfamiliar male voice.

>Pursue him down the stairs and attack with the glaive DC 60 (cover)
>Ignore him and back off to get an idea what's going on outside the window.
>Use ability.
>Write in.
>Quit Arcadia.

>>29883467
>Ignore him and back off to get an idea what's going on outside the window.

>>29883467
PRAY
Drag that jerk in here, terrify the crap out of him! Maybe he'll yield for us and we can question him.

Rolled 33

>>29883467
Jump on the shield, destabilize him, surf him down the stairs, then decapitate.

Rolled 34

>>29883467
>Pursue him down the stairs and attack with the glaive DC 60 (cover)
He thinks he can get away.

>>29883517
I like this idea. Pretty sure we'll get praise or something for taking one in.

Seconding.

Rolled 30

>>29883467
Ask him to yield, and if he refuses attack with the glaive

>>29883467
>Ignore him and back off to get an idea what's going on outside the window.
More important than whatever happens to random meat.

Rolled 33

>>29883554
I like the way you think.

>>29883517
>>29883569
>>29883615
>>29883667
>>29883554

"Yield, asshole!" you snarl. As you expected, he doesn't do any such thing, but he does seem to be intent on making an escape.

You have the advantage of high ground as long as he's still on the stairs, and your loath to give it up so easily. So you bear down upon him. The low gravity gives you enough height to kick at his shield with a single jump. You can't exactly surf him down, but you batter him back slightly and he stumbles as you slice through his shoulder.

It's enough to make him drop the shield. He fumbles for the sword at his belt.

>Try and take him alive. Kick him in the face, knock him down the stairs and stand on his neck in style. DC 50
>Just kill him with the glaive DC 70
>Use PRAY and choke him into submission.
>Write in.
>Quit Arcadia.

Rolled 99

>>29883820
>Just kill him with the glaive DC 70

Rolled 84

>>29883820
>Try and take him alive. Kick him in the face, knock him down the stairs and stand on his neck in style. DC 50
Prisoners can give information. Which is better than corpes.

Rolled 2

>>29883820
Boot to the head. Na-na.

>>29883820
>Try and take him alive. Kick him in the face, knock him down the stairs and stand on his neck in style. DC 50

>>29883840
>>29883855
Oh wow.

Rolled 66

>>29883820
Kill him with the glaive

>>29883840
>>29883855
all these cancelling crits

Rolled 18

>>29883840
>>29883855
Lucky those cancelled out.

>>29883820
Kill him.

Kick him in the head. Take him alive.

Rolled 46

Take him alive.

Rolled 26

>>29884037
Forgot my roll.

>>29884037
>>29884073
fuck that, we gave him a chance to yield
now he's just xp

>>29883852
>>29883855
>>29883886

You leap again and slam the sole of your boot into his face. He clearly wasn't expecting that, and he falls down the rest of the stairwell, landing at the bottom in a tangle of limbs. You land on his chest, and his breath rushes out of his lungs with an 'oof!'

You swing your glaive down so the edge of the blade brushes his face and put a foot on his neck.

"What did I say about yielding?" you ask.

He lets his sword fall from his hand. "Yield," he croaks.

"Looks like you don't need any help after all."

You look back over your shoulder, tense for more danger. What you see is a player with red hair, bluish plate armour and a couple of swords that smoulder and spark like a campfire. The wings on his back fade as he strolls down towards you.

"We got a live one," he calls.

>Who are you?
>Is everyone all right?
>You're a bit late for a rescue mission.
>Write in.
>Quit Arcadia.

>>29884171
>Is everyone all right?

Rolled 53

>>29884171
>Is everyone all right?
We should check on Shrike and Trish. Lily is probably good.

>>29884171
>>Who are you?

>>29884171
how is everyone?

Rolled 33

>>29884171
"Who are you? Is everyone all right? Where are Trish and Shrike? What's the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?"

>>29884171
>You're a bit late for a rescue mission.
Well, it's true!

>>29884269
pff

>>29884188
>>29884228
>>29884252

"Is everyone all right?"

He nods, "Everyone you care about, I imagine. Not so many of these guys though." He looks down at the meat under your foot. "If they fall wounded the Wandering Hands get 'em, like they nearly got the white haired girl."

"Trish," you say.

"Yeah. I pulled her out."

You're not entirely surprised when Mason walks up from the ground floor.

"All clear?" he asks.

"Yeah."

"Well at least we got one."

"Who are you?" you ask the newcomer.

"Wolf," he says. "Mason called me. Sorry we're late. We thought they took the path; we only realised they'd gone the other way when we heard the angel land."

>Wait, you're not rescuing us; you were after these guys?
>Introduce yourself. Thank him.
>We were handling them without help.
>Write in.
>Quit Arcadia.

>>29884457
>Introduce self, thank him

Rolled 66

>>29884457
"Wait... you were hunting these guys?"

>>29884457
>Wait, you're not rescuing us; you were after these guys?
Not that we're not grateful, mind.

>>29884457
>Introduce yourself. Thank him.

We should really get armour. When we asked about dying before, didn't Shrike say they just respawn with their stuff and fewer coins? So looting isn't an option then, right?

>>29884457
>>Introduce yourself. Thank him.

>>29884457
>Wait, you're not rescuing us; you were after these guys?

>>29884538
>>29884469
"I'm Liandra," you introduce yourself. "Thanks for your help." You glance at Mason to include him; you were probably going to be okay, but things were looking rough for Trish and Shrike.

When you look back at Wolf he's holding his hand out. You shake it politely. He holds himself in a weirdly formal manner, like he's standing at ease on a parade ground.

"Nice to meet you."

"Hang on, you weren't actually here to help us, you were chasing these guys?"

"Yes." Wolf glances at Mason. "I'm doing what I'm told."

"Let's get this guy outside," Mason says. "I'll explain."

Wolf and Mason strip the meat of his weapons and you step aside as they haul him to his feet and frog-march him downstairs. They seem pretty efficient; they don't need to talk to each other to get things done.

Outside Trish, Lily and Shrike are lying on the ground near the entrance to the tower. They smile as you approach.

"You made it!" Lily says. "And I heard you quit," she adds, looking at Wolf.

"Nope, just busy."

Standing a little distance away is a horse; your ears hadn't deceived you earlier. It's a strange horse in that it's covered in green scales, and its mane and tail appear to be mostly sea foam. It looks at you with dark, liquid eyes, like a seal. Sea Horse. Right. It's wearing a pretty fancy saddle and bridle too.

Your side is still sore. You did take an arrow earlier.

"Right," Mason says. "You asked after the mirror fragments, didn't you Lily? I put a bounty out in the city for meat with mirrors after the bridge went up and then I had the gates watched for a suspiciously large group of meat getting the hell out. I called Wolf in to help me chase them. And here we are."

As one Wolf and Mason fling the meat down into the dirt and stomp on his hands. "And now, we'll get some answers," Mason says.

>>29884785
>Lie down and regenerate.
>You're not going try and torture him, are you?
>You guys know each other in real life?
>Write in.
>Quit Arcadia.

Rolled 6

>>29884785
Lie down to regenerate.

"Don't hurt him too badly. He was just following orders."

>>29884799
>Lie down and regenerate.
>You're not going try and torture him, are you?

>>29884799
>Lie down and regenerate.

Call our friends together too.

>>29884799
>Lie down and regenerate.
Regeneratin'

>>29884799
>>Lie down and regenerate.

>>29884826
>>29884835
>>29884864
You lie down next to Lily, and let the dull pain in your side start to ebb away. Shrike sits up first.

>>29884826
"Don't hurt him too badly," you say. "He was just following orders."

"He's on the ground," Mason says harshly. "He'll regenerate. As for orders, yes, good point. Let's talk about those."

"You're not going to torture him, are you? How will that even work?"

"Hey," Wolf says softly, looking at Mason with a worried expression.

Mason shakes his head. You realise he really, really doesn't want to do this. He glances at Trish and Shrike, who are looking anywhere but at anyone's face. "It's a truth of this unfair world," Mason says. "That meat feel more pain. A player on one hit point is colourblind, but hardly slowed down. A meat on one hit point is barely conscious."

Trish nods. You do recall that they did seem to feel it more when injured.

"What's your name?" Mason asks the meat.

"Flynn," he mutters.

"You want to talk about your guild?"

Your wound has closed and you sit up.

>Don't do this, it's not worth it. Torture is wrong.
>Offer to help.
>Try and persuade Flynn to talk without violence 1d100
>Write in.
>Quit Arcadia.

Rolled 7

>>29885089
>Try and persuade Flynn to talk without violence
Probably easiest.

Rolled 92

>>29885089
>Try and persuade Flynn to talk without violence 1d100

Rolled 93

>>29885089
Probably the best option right now.

Rolled 45

>>29885089
>Try and persuade Flynn to talk without violence 1d100

Rolled 21

>>29885089
>Try and persuade Flynn to talk without violence 1d100
Good Cop, Bad Cop, Worse Cop.

Rolled 78

>>29885089
"Flynn, why are you doing this? What do you hope to gain from attacking players?"

>>29885119
>>29885135
>>29885147
Well, guess they can't ALL be crits...

>>29885119
>>29885135
>>29885147

"Flynn, if that's true." You get to your feet. Wolf and Mason don't move or interrupt as you walk over to Flynn and kneel down beside him. "Do you know what this means? You'll let this happen just for a game? It's not worth it."

You glance up and Mason gives you a faint, encouraging smile. Go on. You take a deep breath.

"Why are you doing this? What do you hope to gain by attacking players? We didn't do anything to you."

Flynn swallows and meets your eyes briefly before looking away again. "A fairer world. As he says, it's unjust. We fight so we might all be equals again, all be meat together. None of this bullshit gear like he's got." He lifts his head, snarling at Wolf. Wolf doesn't react.

>"Hang on, who exactly is 'we'?"
>"What about the slaves, and the pieces of Arcadia? You need players for those."
>"Who put you up to this?"
>Write in.
>Quit Arcadia.

>>29885326
>"What about the slaves, and the pieces of Arcadia? You need players for those."

Rolled 23

>>29885326
Why focus on that instead of regaining your classes? I've heard it's possible.

>>29885326
>you need players for slaves and pieces of arcadia though

Rolled 91

>>29885326
>"Hang on, who exactly is 'we'?"
This is the real question.

>>29885326
>"Who put you up to this?"

>>29885387
>>29885353
"What about the slaves, and the pieces of Arcadia? You need players for those."

"We don't need them. The bridges and secret passages are just short cuts. You can always climb down into a chasm. And besides, players bust the bridges and keep the ways they open with the Pieces of Arcadia secret, so what fucking difference does it make to us?"

"Huh." You hear Lily stand up and walk away.

"Can't you regain your classes somehow?" you ask.

"If you believe stupid rumours. I don't know anyone who's done it, do you?"

"Who put you up to this?"

"Just people. Meat. They talk, you know."

"You were recruited," Shrike says. "Like that guy who tried to recruit us a couple of weeks ago."

"Recruited into what?" you ask.

"A guild," he mutters. "We don't have a name."

"You mean an army," Wolf says.

>"Who's in charge?"
>"What's the deal with the fragments of mirror?"
>"Where were you guys running to?"
>Write in.
>Quit Arcadia.

>>29885326
>"Who put you up to this?"
Hopefully we don't have to do torture.

>>29885536
>whats the deal with fragments of mirror

>>29885536
>"What's the deal with the fragments of mirror?"

Rolled 91

>>29885536
What's the deal with the mirror fragments?

>>29885536
>"What's the deal with the fragments of mirror?"

>>29885536
>"Where were you guys running to?"

>>29885578
>>29885568
"What's the deal with the fragments of mirror? Where did you get them?"

"You get one when you join." Trish kneels down on the other side and goes through Flynn's pockets. He squirms, trying not to laugh, despite the dire situation he's in.

"Ticklish," Trish mutters. "Got it." She pulls out a shard of mirror from his pocket and hands it to Mason.

"Where do they come from?" you ask.

"I don't know. You get given one when you join."

"Does it do anything?"

"No. It's a badge. You show it to be let in to meetings."

"Hm." Mason looks pleased to get that piece of information and Flynn clams up, realising he's said a bit much. "Meetings, huh?"

It looks way too small to be useful for anything other than looking into one of your own eyes.

"Where were you going?" you ask.

Flynn doesn't answer.

>"Who's in charge of this guild?"
>"Do you know about the battle for the Lightning Bridge?"
>Ask him again where he's going.
>Write in.
>Quit Arcadia.

>Ask him again where he's going.

>>29885750
>Ask him again where he's going.
Remind him that Mason is the alternative.

Rolled 12

>>29885750
"Listen, there's nothing that will come of this but bloodshed, and as meat you're going to be outclassed by... well, the classed. Even if we fight you, it's a matter of self-defense. There's no reason we can't all get along. Maybe we could collaborate to find a way to recover classes."

>>29885750
whos in charge of the guild?

>>29885750
>Ask him again where he's going.
Insistence will surely help!

>>29885750
>Ask him what he thinks will happen if he ever goes back to them after telling us ANYTHING.

>>29885776
>>29885797
>>29885833
"Where are you going?" you ask again and Flynn gets an expression of mulish resistance. "Do you want them to stomp your face in, or whatever it is they're going to do?"

No answer.

"Listen, there's nothing that will come of this but bloodshed, and as meat you're going to be outclassed by... well, the classed. Even if we fight you, it's a matter of self-defense. There's no reason we can't all get along. Maybe we could collaborate to find a way to recover classes."

"Yeah, that's what Mason says, too," Flynn replies. "Doesn't work, does it? Just cause you've got some friends. You'll get sick of them once you level up past what they can do."

You glance at Trish and Shrike, who are sitting next to each other on a block of stone. Shrike shrugs, "No hard feelings."

"What do you think will happen if you go back after talking to us?" you ask.

"Nothing. How are they gonna know?" He smiles, "There's nothing I can tell you that's useful anyway."

"Oh yeah?" Mason, one foot still on Flynn's hand drops to one knee and wraps his hand around Flynn's throat. "What the fuck were you planning in my city?"

"Recruit and lie low, that's all."

"For now," Wolf adds idly.

"Who's in charge of all of this?" you ask.

"A guy in a white mask. That's what they say. I've never seen him."

Mason looks thoughtful and removes his hand. "Meat or player?"

Flynn looks a bit shifty. "I...meat of course. What else?"

"You don't know," Mason says. "He could be a player, and you're all suckers."

>Stand up. "I guess you have to hurt him if he's not telling us where he's going."
>"Lightning Bridge mean anything to you?"
>That's all he's going to say. Let him go.
>Write in.
>Quit Arcadia.

>>29886052
>"Lightning Bridge mean anything to you?"

Rolled 83

>>29886052
"Flynn, please. Enough people died here today. I don't want to see you join them."

>>29886052
>"Lightning Bridge mean anything to you?"

>>29886052
>Stand up. "I guess you have to hurt him if he's not telling us where he's going."

>>29886052
>Back off and let Mason and Wolf ask their questions.

>>29886052
>"Lightning Bridge mean anything to you?"

>>29886052
>>Stand up. "I guess you have to hurt him if he's not telling us where he's going."

>>29886081
>>29886099
"Does the Lightning Bridge mean anything to you?" you ask.

Flynn frowns. "They were talking about it in town this morning." A slow smile spreads across his face. "That was us, wasn't it? That's why you put the bounty out-"

Wolf draws his foot back an kicks Flynn in the ribs.

"Stop being so smug."

Flynn gasps and draws his knees up, curling away from Wolf as best he can while his arms are still restrained.

"Where are you going?" Mason asks again. "You had a plan; if you were just randomly fleeing you would have gone over the bridge rather than risking a chasm."

You stand up and stand back. Lily's watching with a deeply uncomfortable expression, but she doesn't interfere.

Wolf kicks him again. "Come on, I don't have all day."

"I don't know!" he says through gritted teeth. He can't decide whether to curl up to protect himself or stretch out to get hit points back. "We were just to head out and down and just keep going!"

"Just keep going?" Lily asks. "Not to stop somewhere?"

"Yes. I mean, no."

"Once you get out of the mist there's a beach that way," Lily says. "And a town."

"Hey, yeah, I know that place, if it's still there," Wolf says.

"And escape by boat," Mason says. "Doable even by meat." Mason looks at Shrike, "Get his gear." He gazes down at Flynn, "Take your stuff, log out, and don't come back for a while. What you do then is your business."

"You're letting me go?" Flynn asks.

"You yielded. Of course I am," Mason says.

>Stand back and let him leave.
>Ask something else (write in.)
>Vote to kill him anyway.
>Write in.
>Quit Arcadia.

>>29886301
>Stand back and let him leave.

>>29886301
>Stand back and let him leave.

>>29886301
>Let him leave

Rolled 28

>>29886301
"Listen, Flynn. I don't know how you first died, but I'm sorry. I don't know why it made you so bitter, but it doesn't have to be this way. Just... keep that in mind, okay? Good luck out there."

>>29886370
"Listen, Flynn. I don't know how you first died, but I'm sorry. I don't know why it made you so bitter, but it doesn't have to be this way. Just... keep that in mind, okay? Good luck out there."

Lily raises an eyebrow at you. Trish and Shrike smile affectionately in your direction and Mason nods.

"Quite right."

It's not until Flynn has well and truly gone that everyone finally relaxes.

"I'm so glad you're all right!" Shrike wraps an arm around Trish's shoulders. "I'm sorry I couldn't pull you out. If Wolf hadn't shown up..."

"It's okay, it's fine."

"Well, this place got a bit more exciting since I was last here," Wolf says to Mason. "Look, meat and players working together, your dream is becoming a reality."

"And what about all this?" he says indicating where Flynn had been lying.

"Nothing's perfect, man. You've made progress."

Lily buries her face in her hands and sighs. "So it's true. There is a big guild out to kill us. Fuck. What do we do now?"

"Hey." Mason's looking at you. "Thanks for talking to him. You helped us out a lot, and I appreciate it."

>Talk to Trish and Shrike; find out what their plans are.
>Talk to Lily. Find out what happened after you logged out
>Talk to Mason, offer to help in whatever comes next.
>Talk to Wolf, find out what he thinks about it all.
>Write in.
>Quit Arcadia

>>29886550
>Talk to Lily. Find out what happened after you logged out
Answers, dammit!

Rolled 69

>>29886550
"I agree with you: There's no reason for us to fight. It's just a game, after all. As for what we do, well... maybe we find out how the Meat can regain their classes? If we can help them, it would really mitigate hostilities. Besides, it's information we might eventually need too."

>>29886550
>Talk to Lily. Find out what happened after you logged out

>>29886550
talk to lily

>>29886550
Talk to Lily.

"Easy, we start a guild of our own, right? I think you and Mason could lead us to peace."

>>29886550
>>Talk to Lily. Find out what happened after you logged out

>>29886608
>>29886590
"So what happened after I logged out anyway?" you ask Lily.

"Well, I didn't want to hang around for three hours so I left and did some stuff. Logged out for dinner, logged back. Came back here and these guys were coming through. I was a bit annoyed cause they were going to clear the graveyard so I went down to ask if they could wait another ten minutes or so until everyone else showed up and we could clear it together." She scowls. "People are usually really happy when I fly down and offer to help but these guys just attacked."

She sighs. "I retreated, trying to draw them off, before you guys came back and then Trish and Shrike logged in and came out to help me." She lowers her voice, "Which is you know, nice of them, but I can fly. Then they got caught up in it and I was trying to rescue them and then you showed up."

"You know the rest."

"I see. Bad timing then."

"Pretty much. I'm glad we killed most of them. It's what they deserved. We gotta find this masked guy and kill him. No question."

"Actually, I agree," Mason says, much to Lily's surprise. "Whoever he is, he's basically declared war and he's raised an army with which to do it."

"How the fuck did this happen?" Lily asks. "How did no one notice?"

"This world is huge," Wolf says, leading his sea horse over, stroking its shining muzzle. "Even if someone did, there's no reason the news would travel."

"We need to work out what he do next," Mason says.

"We need to go back to the city," Trish says. "It's too dangerous for us to log out down here."

"I should go back too, but someone should investigate the beach town," Mason says. "It's the only lead we have for now."

"I could go," Wolf says. "It's not even lunchtime here, and Typhoon is fast. Aren't ya, girl?"

"I'll go too," Lily says.

>Go back to the city.
>Go with Wolf and Lily to the beach.
>Make another suggestion.
>Write in.
>Quit Arcadia.

Rolled 29

>>29886862
Escort Trish and Shrike. Mason and Lily can handle themselves.

>>29886862
>stay here and grind for EXP
Let's actually do what we set out to do in the first place!

>>29886905
I can support this
str++++

>>29886862
>Go with Wolf and Lily to the beach.

>>29886899
>Escort Trish and Shrike. Mason and Lily can handle themselves.
I'm with this one, but add in asking Wolf about where he lives.

Hold on, where does Ash live?

>>29886862
>>Go with Wolf and Lily to the beach.

>>29886973
>>29886899
(Ash lives in a generic US college town.)

"Where are you from?" you ask Wolf.

"Huh? Oh, I'm American I'm just overseas right now."

"That's really useful," Lily says. "Cause it's Sunday night here. I can't hang out for hours frolicking on the beach. Sadly. Hang on, lemmie get you on my contacts."

"Frolicking?" He laughs. "Sure." He takes out his mirror. "You want 'em too?" he asks you. "I may not be around so much, but you know."

There's no harm in it. Wolf was added to your Contacts. He gives you a smile for your mirror.

Mason and Wolf shake hands. "It's good to see you again," Mason says. "Thanks for helping out and take care, you hear me?"

"Always do."

Hm. You think that maybe they do know each other in real life.

Mason, Trish and Shrike get ready to head back. You think whichever destination you choose, you probably should log out and sleep when you get there. You have class tomorrow.

"Do you want a lift?" Wolf asks, indicating his horse.

>Walk back to the city.
>Fly to the beach with Lily.
>Ride to the beach with Wolf.
>Write in.
>Quit Arcadia.

Rolled 3

>>29887225
Walk back to the city with Trish and Shrike.

Thanks for running, Arc.[/spoier]

>>29887225
>Walk back to the city.
If we go to the beach, we'll be on our own, since we'll be left behind when we log out.

>>29887225
>Walk back to the city.

>>29887225
>>Ride to the beach with Wolf.

>>29887225
>ride with wolf
might as well try riding the seahorse

>>29887225
>Walk back to the city.

>>29887268
>>29887262
>>29887253
>>29887325

"I should head back too," you say. "But thanks for the offer."

"It's always open," he says, and swings himself up into the saddle.

"We'll keep in touch," Lily says.

The group splits up, and you, Trish, Shrike and Mason start retracing your steps back to the city.

"I'm sorry I had to do that earlier," Mason says.

"It's all right," Trish says. "It's not like you actually hurt him. I get knocked down to a couple of hit points every other day in this place."

"I still don't know how you stand that," Shrike says. "Hey Mason, do you think this guild is run by a player?"

"I dunno. To be the only player in a world of meat it would make you powerful, but so what? And besides, new players join all the time. They'd have to keep at it."

"Masks are so cliche," Trish says. "Unless it's secretly you, Mason."

Mason just sighs. "Don't even joke about it. I'm finally making things better and then this happens. I lost people off my contacts list at Lightning Bridge."

"Those guys were scary," Shrike says. "All that discipline. Shouting orders. Blah blah. How is that fun?"

"I'm glad we took them down a peg," you say.

~~~
Co-incidentally, I too am going to the beach. For a week. I'll run again next Wed EST at the earliest, if I don't slack off on my planning.

Thanks for playing, as always.

>>29887509
Thanks for running bro. This is one of the best quests running right now.

>>29887509
thanks for running!

>>29887509
Thank you for running, your threads are always a blast!

>>29887509
Have fun at the beach, and thanks for running.